Everybody’s been concerned about inflation over the past couple of years, and the program is aware of it too: while it had been funding the three feature films it sponsors with 150,000 Euros, this year the filmmakers get 200,000. They hit Venice twice: first to workshop their projects, in director/producer pairs, then to present it to the festival, where, among other things, they’ll hear from us. It’s a unique experience for both filmmaker and critic. And it’s yielded some first rate and sometimes radical films. You may have heard of “This is Not a Burial, This is a Resurrection,” “The Fits,” “My Father, The Devil,” and “The Cathedral.” They’re all Biennale presentations.
While the program is overall very strong in showcasing work from Asian and African countries, this year’s features are from the Western world, more or less. And they’re all striking and old, each one rather different in tone.
“Lumbrensueño,” from Mexico, directed by Jose Pablo Escamilla and Nicolasa Ruiz, is a coming-of-age story that takes a refreshing approach that deviates from linear narrative to present long passages representing the inner life of its future artist. The movie’s teen protagonist works at a burger joint; his boss notices he likes film and enlists him to make a promo video for the joint. His best friend at work is a socially awkward anime freak (an “otaku” as they say), who brings new visions into his life. The movie’s title translates to “Fire Dreams” and the imagery lives up to it.
The Italian production “L’anno dell’Uovo,” that is, “Year of the Egg,” is a beguiling picture that ends up taking the viewer somewhere they won’t necessarily expect except if they’ve been watching with meticulous care. It shows a couple, newly present, having their child=bearing process supervised at a kind of ashram where the egg is an object of worship. There’s a peculiar tension that builds throughout, well-built by director Claudio Casale, and some notes that seem satirical. The movie is ultimately after something else, something enigmatic but also jolting.